LOS ANGELES — It is not as if the Rangers had stage fright for Wednesday’s opener of the Stanley Cup finals, but even as they skated full speed ahead into the spotlight, it is fair to say they didn’t quite know what they were getting into.

“The first shift, you realize that there’s another gear,” Derick Brassard said following Friday’s practice. “The first three rounds you can win some games with an average performance if you have one or two guys making a difference, but now in the Stanley Cup finals, we saw in Game 1 that we’re going to need our best from every player.”

The Rangers need a lot better from their centermen in Saturday’s Game 2 than they got in the 3-2, Game 1 overtime defeat, that’s for certain. Brassard was way off his game. Brad Richards rarely had the puck. Derek Stepan was erratic. Dominic Moore could not make an impact.

“It’s on us to look for answers,” said Brassard. “And to look in the mirror.”

Play down the middle is critical at any time of the season and against any opponent, but even more so here and now against a Kings team overflowing with size, strength and skill provided by centers Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Jarret Stoll and Mike Richards.

Kopitar, who had a quiet Wednesday coming off a seven-game duel with Chicago’s Jonathan Toews, is one of the premier players in the world. Carter, who has revived his career since its nadir in Columbus in 2011-12, is a formidable opponent with a goal-scorer’s touch and is capable of winning battles in the trenches as well as races to the outside. Stoll is one of the best checking centers in the league. Richards is a gritty, big-play guy, as evidenced by his read and pass on Justin Williams’ Game 1 overtime winner.

“A lot of their plays start with faceoffs and the low plays and through the neutral zone,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “Our guys need to manage the puck better so we can play a faster game that has been one of our strengths.”

Stepan owns the Rangers’ designation as a No. 1 center pretty much by default. Win or lose, the absence of a legitimate, dominating top center is one of the critical issues general manager Glen Sather will have to address in the off-season once the call on the Brad Richards amnesty buyout is made by the June 30 deadline.

Paul Stastny is the best of the lot coming up on free agency, but will be extremely pricey and may not be a New York kind of guy. If Richards does indeed become a victim of the cap-recapture, it would not be a surprise to see the Rangers inquire about San Jose center Joe Thornton, who has three years coming up on an extension at $6.75 million per.

Thornton has a no-move clause in his deal but the big center might be willing to waive it in order to join his close friend Rick Nash, with whom he has combined for Team Canada in several international tournaments. That would give the Rangers an unquestioned No. 1 pivot.

But Thornton won’t be a Ranger by Saturday night. That is guaranteed. And so the burden falls on the current group to improve dramatically once the puck drops. Richards needs to create with the puck; actually, he needs to have the puck. Brassard needs to create a north-south tempo for his unit that seemed to get caught in traffic and force too much through Game 1. Moore needs to get in on the forecheck.

Derek StepanAnthony Causi

And Stepan will need to be better, and make better decisions with the puck, in conjunction with linemates Nash and Chris Kreider, in order to generate speed and scoring chances on the rush and off the down-low cycle while matched primarily against the outstanding Kopitar-Marian Gaborik-Dustin Brown line. The more they have the puck, the less Kopitar and Gaborik will.

“As a line, I think we have a lot more to give, all three of us,” Stepan said. “We all have strengths that we contribute. Chris skates and Nasher and I create space.”

Nash’s difficulty scoring in the playoffs — three goals in 22 games — has become an immediate topic for the journalists jumping onto the finals who haven’t necessarily dealt before with the story. So, “What’s Wrong With Rick Nash?” has re-emerged as a popular topic.

“It’s not only Rick,” Stepan said. “Me and Kreids have to step up our games.”

The burden is on the Rangers to improve, and quickly, if this trip to Los Angeles is going to be about more than the Blueshirts’ 15 minutes in the sun.